Separable fastener



' July 17, 1934. G. SUNDBACK Er A1. l 1,966,468

SEPARABLE FASTENER Original Filed Feb. 4. 1932 mem" m s s-rn- '25INVENTOS. 15 12 Gideon Sundbavff V I6 1f Gustar hun 3 MJ Eiglog.- y

Patented July i7,\\\1934 UNITED sTATias PATENT omer:

Dahlin St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, as#

aignors to Hookless Fastener Company. Meadville, Pa., .a corporation ofPennsylvania ApplicationlFebruary 4, 1932, Serial No.`"`590,872 RenewedOctober 21. 1933 'z cmu. (ci. u zosi Our invention relates to multipleinterlocking fasteners which are adapted to-be opened and closed bymovement of a slider along a' series ofinterlocking elements.

The principal object of our invention is to devise an improvement, in ora modification of the invention described and claimed in the pendingapplication of Gideon Sundback. Serial No. 415,721, filed December 21,1929. In accordance with the earlier application, the slider is providedwith suitable locking means for preventing accidental opening of thefastener. and the present invention particularly aims at an im provedconstruction of such locking slider which will be relatively'simplecheap to manufacture, durable and reliable in use.

Another objectv is to provide an improved exible pull member having aring connection with the slider body in which the flexible member isconfined to one position on said ring. The purpose of this improvementwill appear further on in the specification. p

"I'he objects and advantages will appear more fully during the course ofthe specification. In the accompanying drawing we have shown forpurposes of illustration, one embodiment' which our invention may assumein practice. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a multiple interlocking fastenerwith a slider embdyin my invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section through the slider showing thefastening elements there- Fig.` 3 is a side view of the slider andcooperating portions of the fastener stringer;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the slider and cooperating portions of thefastener;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the slider with the locking and pull attachingmember removed:

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view on line 6 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the locking and pull attaching member; p

Fig. 8 shows the flexible pull member;`

Figs. 9 and l0- are cross sections of the ring on lines 9-9 and 10-10respectively of Fig. 4: and

Fig. 11 is-a cross section through the intermediate part of the lockingmember.

The fastener illustrated is of the well known interlocking type having apair of stringers 12 v to which are attached in Properly spaced relationthe interlocking fastener elements 13 which are adapted to be quickly.engaged or disengaged by movement of a slider 14 along the elements,

In carrying out the invention, in one convenient form our improvedslider may be of any suitable size and shape having the usual chan- 00neled body which may be briefly described as comprising spaced apartwing portions 15 and 16, side iianges 17 and an integral neck connection18. The slider may be formed bystamping or pressing from a single sheetof metal or may be conupper wing of the slider to provide Va fulcrum.

upon which is pivoted almovably mounted elongated locking member 20, theconnection being eifecd by a projection 21 onthe locking member engagingin an aperture 21a in the lug or by any other suitable means, As notedin Fig. 11 75 the locking member .is of T section so as to provide guidegrooves 22 .to permita sliding connection with the flexible pull member.This elongated locking member 20 may be referred to as a locking memberor as apull attaching member since it has a double function. At itsforward end the locking member has its web portion cut away and theremaining portion bifurcated and bent down to provide alockingprojection 23 extending at right angles from the bar. and alonprojection, 24' which cooperates portion 25 of the slider body tomovement of the forward end while pivoting about its gitudinai stop withthe stirrup permit limited 01' the locking member fulcrum. Theprojection 24 is bent at an angle oo so as to providea ledge to engageunder a wire spring 25a which is anchored to the slider at one end andextends longitudinally of the slider body. The mannervofanchoring thespring is best illustratedinFig.8. Thewireisplacedinashallow recess 28in the slider body and preferably by means of a double edged tool themetal onopposite sides of the groove is forced over the springasindicated to anchor one end, leaving the other end of the springfreeto render the spring more loo iiexible.

It will be observed that the normal tendency is to urge the lockingmember downwardly into locking position at all times.l

`The pull member may assume any convenient form but preferably comprisesa flexible bead chain 27 having at one end alink 27 connected to a splitring 29 whose ends are pressed into the' grooves 22 of the lockingmember. The ring can slide alor'` the locking member, but cannot rotateaboutits own axis. This ring is preferably of rectangular cross sectionas shown in Fig. 9, and at the point of connection with the link 28, thering is formed with a round portion 30 over which the eye of the link 28engages. This round portion effectively prevents shifting of the linkconnection along the ring. Without this device the link 28 tends to slipback against the locking member 20 and jam against it, thereby causing atwisting or bending stress to be applied to the link and ring members;also interfering with the operation of the lock. It will be noted thatthe locking member has a comparatively loose mounting and at the sametime, a secure mounting. This has the advantage of allowing the lockingprojection 23 to shift slightly of its own accord so as always toregister with the space between a pair of interlocking elements 13.Furthermore, if desired, the engaging end of the locking projection 23may be beveled or rounded on its forward side so that it will jump overthe fastener elements when placed under an undue stress which mightotherwise break or bend the locking projection.

As a result of our invention it will be observed that a greatly improvedlocking device for sliders has been devised which is relatively simplein construction and manufacture. It may be mentioned in assembling thedevice the spring 25a is rst assembled with a slider and the lockingmember is assembled with the fulcrum lug and spring before theprojection 24 is bent up in the longitudinal plane, then after the partsare in position, the lug 24 is bent up under the stirrup 25. The deviceis very durable since there are no parts which can be easily bent ordisplaced. At the same time, an eilicient lock is provided which willalways hold the slider in the desired position and will be automaticallyreleased without any attention when a pulling force is applied to theflexible pull member in the direction to open the fastener.

While we have in this application specifically described one embodimentwhich our invention may assume in practice, it will be understood thatthe embodiment is merely for the purposes of illustration anddescription and that various other forms may be devised Within the scopeof our invention as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

l. A slider for multiple interlocking fasteners comprising a channeledbody member movable along the fastener elements, a lug projecting fromthe upper wing of said slider, an elongated locking and pull attachingmember having a fulcrum connection with said lug at one end, and alocking projection at its other end adapted to project into the channelof said body member, means for limiting the outward movement of saidlocking and pull attaching member, means including a spring acting onsaid locking member normally tending to hold the same in lockingposition, and a pull member operatively connected to said locking memberand adapted to move the same to released position automatically when theslider is being moved in the opening direction.

2. A slider for multiple interlocking fasteners having interlockingelements comprising a channeled body memberv movable along the fastenerstringers, an elongated locking, and pull attaching members movablymounted on said slider body, having a fulcrum projection vat one end andat its other end a locking projec- `tion adapted in one position of themember to project into locking engagement with the interlockingelements, means providing a fulcrum on said body member for engagementwith said fulcrum projection, a spring on said body member and acting onsaid locking member at a point spaced from the fulcrum end toward thelocking projection end and tending normally to hold the lockingprojection in engagement with the fastener elements, and a pull memberconnected to said locking member for actuating the slider, and adaptedalso to move said locking member into released position when a pullingforce is applied thereto in opening the fastener.

3. A slider for multiple interlocking fasteners comprising a channeledbody member movable along the fastener elements, a fulcrum. lug on theupper wing of said slider and having an aperture therein, an elongatedlocking member having a projection loosely engaged in said aperture, theother end oi said locking member having a projection adapted to extendinto the channel of said body member, a spring anchored to said bodymember acting on said locking member at the end having the lockingprojection and tending normally to hold the locking projection inlocking position, and a pull member, attached to said locking member foractuating the slider and adapted when a pulling force is applied theretoin opening the fastener, to release said locking member against thetension of said spring.

4. A slider for multiple interlocking fasteners comprising a channeledbody member movable along the fastener elements, an elongated lockinging and pull attaching member iulcrumed to said slider body at one end,and having at its other end a projection extending at right angles so asto obstruct the channel in said slider body in one position of thelocking member, and a longitudinally extending projection cooperatingwith means on the body member to limit outward movement of said lockingmember with respect to the body member, a spring anchored to said bodymember and normally holding said locking member in locking position, anda pull member connected to said locking member for actuating the sliderand simultaneously moving said locking member upwardly against thetension of said spring to release said lock when a pulling force isapplied in opening the fastener.

5. A slider for multiple interlocking fasteners constructed according tothe preceding claim wherein the means on the body member for 1im itingoutward movement of the locking member includes a stirrup adapted toengage over said longitudinal projection on the locking member.

6. A slider for multiple interlocking fasteners constructed inaccordance with claim 4 in which said elongated locking member is formedfrom a T section bar providing guide grooves intermediate the ends withwhich said pull member is slidably engaged.

7. A slider for multiple-interlocking fasteners comprising a channeledbody member movable along the fastener elements, a flexible pull memberfor actuating said slider including a ring pivoted to said body memberin such a manner as to prevent the rotation of the ring about its axis,means flexibly connecting said flexible pull member with said ring,means confining said connecting means for preventing said connectingmeans from traveling to the end portions of said ring.

` GIDEON SUNDBACK.

GUSTAF DAHLIN.

